Limbo
by EvilFuzzy9
Summary: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


**Limbo**

A _Naruto_ oneshot

By

EvilFuzzy9

* * *

Across the ages I stride, an echo of bygone eras. A ripple in the river of time, a disturbance, an eddy which shapes the course and flow of all things to come after it.

I am the catalyst, the ultimate cause and reason of this Age.

This woeful, bloody Age.

Indra. Worthy of heaven, mighty and wise. Fierce and unforgiving, unyielding in his pursuit of absolute justice.

Asura. Seeker of power, ambitious and stubborn. Gregarious and humble, kind of heart yet relentless in battle.

My sons, such proud sons. In their father's path they follow, their uncle's path, and grandmother's path. War and peace, light and dark. One who stands by his own power atop the heavens, and one who strives bitterly with the aid of others to reach an equal height.

O, my follies, my regrets.

Many and grave are the mistakes of Hagoromo Bamboo-cutter. _Sage_, they called me, one who walked the six-fold ways of the Inner Path. _God_, they called me, son of the goddess, son of the demon. I was the savior of this world, the one destined to bring peace.

_Peace_.

How ironic. This word is so simple, so small a thing when spoken. Yet the weight of its meaning is beyond compare, an ideal which has been sought since the beginning of time. For the sake of "peace", armies will move into action, war will erupt.

War for peace. We fight to protect the things we hold dear, fight to protect the "peace" which we cherish. We demonize those who transgress against ourselves, condemning them as agents of evil, heretics, _enemies_. We hate for the sake of our "peace", hate and kill and struggle against all odds.

Why?

What is peace? Is it the absence of conflict? A unity of purpose?

I have not lived for many an age. I died long ago. But still I exist, an echo of consciousness, a spiritual transmigrant traveling across space and time in search of the Answer.

I believe I have found it, however: the answer to the riddle of "peace". It is not a happy answer; the knowledge of it has likely driven me mad. It is a bitter realization, something which I am loth to acknowledge.

Do you know, child of my children, of the gods, of the demons? In ancient times, when humanity were still a very small existence, when the World Tree was but a seed unsprouted, beings far beyond our mortal ken waged a bitter, internecine war. Mutually assured destruction, devastation of all life – such was the power they wielded, so great and terrible.

Why did they fight? Could not even beings so wise, so powerful, overcome the follies which plague us humans? Could even the gods and the demons not find peace?

It is saddening to think about. Many times have I traveled these ages, a cycle of death and rebirth without end, but ever I see war and struggle and strife.

Peace is nowhere to be found.

Perhaps it never existed.

I have seen the journey of life from beginning to end a thousand times over. I have seen the births and deaths of stars beyond count, whole galaxies kindling, then burning out, before my very eyes.

Life is cruel. It is bitter and harsh.

From the moment it spawns in the shallow, primordial seas, to the day it dies, choked on ash and poison in a scorched and burning world, life is an endless struggle. All living things strive against one another. They compete for resources – sustenance to grow and space to live, time to breed and birth and die.

A single candle is sustained with the deaths of a thousand others. Plants drink in the sunlight, leech moisture and minerals from the very earth, spewing their waste into the atmosphere. Numerous animals great and small feed on the plants, raze swathes of pasture, denude entire groves in their unthinking appetites.

The plants struggle, competing with others of like and unlike kind, formulating through generations defenses against the grazing beasts – poison, thorns, bitter or unpleasant taste. They evolve, striving against the beasts.

The beasts evolve also, developing immunities, symbiotic relationships with bacterial organisms, or strategies of feeding to work around the defenses of the plants. Some beasts even feed themselves upon the flesh of other animals, struggling against prey which can run and flee, fight and struggle, strategize and adapt.

The one and only care of life is its continuance and perpetuation. Innumerable kinds and forms come into existence over the march of ages, many dying out, others changing and adapting, a few still continuing unchanged in the same niches as ever. Lesser beasts, vermin, will plague other forms of life, infest and feed and multiply from within their prey, their hosts. Greater beasts can wipe out whole species through their predation, uproot forests, turn rivers to lakes, alter the very geography of their environment.

Life is cruel. It is bitter and harsh.

Nature is not peaceful. It is not an unchanging, harmonious existence. No, nature is a history of struggle from beginning to end. Beasts suffer through a piteous, base existence, enduring all manner of evils without even the spiritual clarity or mental faculties to comprehend the misery of their lot, or grasp the reasons for their suffering.

And humans, I have seen time and again, are little different. Longer than most kinds do we live (though shorter still than some), and deepest of all living creatures do we perceive the mysteries of nature. With years of meditation and study, some unlock the smallest fraction of the least secrets of our infinite cosmos, while others seek humbler existences, yearning for an intangible "happiness".

Yet endlessly do we fall prey to the same vices and pitfalls, fecklessly repeating the follies of our forefathers. Humans are as chained to this existence as the meanest and lowest of beasts, for all our struggle and meditation no closer to "peace" than any form of life.

This is the truth of our world.

Peace is an illusory, unattainable ideal. Those who claim to seek it inevitably bring naught but conflict and catastrophe. The quest for peace leads to naught but adversity.

Yet, adversity puts pressure on organisms. Strife pushes lifeforms to adapt, _evolve_. Those who cannot change will die out, a slow but inevitable process. Paradigm shift brings cataclysmic upheaval, and chaos descends upon the world.

Thus is life kept changeable, prevented from stagnating. Creatures which evolve without adversity will invariably die out when times of change come, but those who must struggle every moment of their lives, who suffer indignity and animosity, are made lean and efficient, sturdy and adaptable.

It is those who know suffering that can endure hardship, and those who conceive of peace that have a reason to strive and persevere.

Each age of life must have a beginning and an end. Times of hardship and upheaval which force the adaptation, and evolution, of mankind, and all life. Once again, such a time is upon our people, yours and mine alike.

This Age of Shinobi is ending. Ninshu may endure, but many things fair and good will fall. The world will cease to be as it once was, and become something else. Something _new_.

That is the only promise of life. The potential for change. As long as humanity is kept malleable, adaptable, there is yet a chance...

Peace may be an illusion, a grand lie with which we delude ourselves, but even an illusion can have its uses. If "peace" is what shall motivate humanity to struggle and endure, then so be it. Let them fight for the peace they believe in, just as we have done before.

Asura. Indra.

Even now, you two are so opposed, still locked in conflict. Your energies remain in this world, they linger without vanishing. Those who carry on your wills are imbued with a measure of your immortal souls; they are the incarnations of your spirits, the inheritors of your strength.

My sons...

I regret the mistakes I made. But I cannot be stayed from this path. You cannot keep me from leading humanity to its destiny.

Peace, as an illusion, is a useful motivator for small-minded mortals. But as a reality it is toxic, the enemy of life and evolution. The two of you cannot be reconciled – you must not be reconciled.

Don't you see it, my sons? The conflict of your wills pushes our people to ever greater heights. The inheritance of love and hatred drives humanity onward and upward. Your love for one another, your hatred and resentment. Once more lend it unto me, O children of my loins, executors of my hopes.

The war of the gods and the demons doomed them to mutual annihilation. But in their destruction, new life was born, new worlds were seeded. This is but one of many, countless worlds out of all the infinite different iterations of reality.

But humanity is my charge, these the people I have chosen to guide. With time, all things will die. Stars wink out of existence, life becomes unsustainable. Planets waste away into cosmic dust. Expansion reaches its limit; the last lingering wisps of warmth and light depart.

At the end of all things, the Universe shall return to its first state, shall collapse into a singular mote of cosmic potential. And it shall all begin anew.

But until then, I lead humanity. I guide them to the greatest heights they can achieve.

Conflict is the ultimate catalyst for evolution. Until the end of time, the gods and demons shall wage war upon one another.

You, Indra and Asura, shall wage war upon one another. In rivalry realize your full potential. You must evolve, or else you will die, in this ever-changing, unchanging limbo.

That is the inheritance I bequeath to you.

To you, and your incarnations.

Across the ages I stride, an echo of bygone eras. A ripple in the river of time, a disturbance, an eddy which shapes the course and flow of all things to come after it.

I am the catalyst, the ultimate cause and reason of this Age.

This woeful, bloody Age.

Madara. Worthy of heaven, mighty and wise. Fierce and unforgiving, unyielding in your pursuit of absolute justice.

Neglecting Indra was my mistake, the folly which led to this all. You have the strength to change this.

Hashirama. Seeker of peace, ambitious and stubborn. Gregarious and humble, kind of heart yet relentless in battle.

Others before you have tried, but you are unlike them. I believe you can succeed where they failed.

My sons, such proud sons.

Even now, you two are so opposed, still locked in conflict. Your energies remain in this world, they linger without vanishing. Those who carry on your wills are imbued with a measure of your immortal souls; they are the incarnations of your spirits, the inheritors of your strength.

Sasuke. Naruto.

Receive my gift, O sons of my loins. My regrets are many and profound, but you two carry a hope for the future. You shall lead this world into a new age. You shall carry my blessings into battle.

Until the next time we meet, my sons.

* * *

A/N: I can't be the only one who felt a tiny bit suspicious about Hagoromo's appearance to Sasuke and Naruto... Maybe it was just the translation I was reading, but I got the impression that his motivations were hardly as straightforward as he presented them.

I felt like he was playing both sides of the field, maybe even ENCOURAGING the continuation of the Asura/Indra conflict by giving both Sasuke and Naruto a part of his power while telling each one that he believed _they_ had the potential to change things and bring peace.

And the mention of HIM having a brother... well, that just raises all kinds of warning flags in my head. But for now I guess we'll just have to wait and see what his motives are.

**Updated: **4-29-14

**TTFN and R&R!**

– — ❤


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